An Orlando Music, Nightlife and Culture Blog

A Black Man Explains the “No Colors” Sign

I personally photographed this in a Central Florida bar who owned no problems serving “coloreds”.

Last night, I was minding my own damned business at Orlando’s Wally’s, one of my favorite watering holes. Here and there I chatted with friends. Yet, I mostly enjoyed my Bud Light and a small bag of Lays potato chips. Every time I come to Wally’s, bartender Cindy always hooks me up with some variety of chips.

Somehow I got in a conversation with a white woman who appeared early thirties. Straight blonde hair touched her shoulders and back. She wore a white shirt with long black sleeves. She was sitting next to a forty-something white guy, a dude I’ve seen in Wally’s before. Blondie was sitting next to me.

“You know what offends me?” Blondie said.

She picked up her phone and searched her phone’s photo gallery. Next, she showed me a pic containing a bar’s “No Colors” sign.

Blondie wouldn’t let it go. On and on, she went …about something. I couldn’t comprehend drunk blonde talk. She mentioned something about being from Miami. Then, she mentioned Crips and Bloods wearing rags.

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s when some white people attempt dictating to me and other black folks on the conversation about race, which makes them look racist. Then, the next thing you know, they can’t stand President Obama. (Yet, that subject is for another blog.)

I kept quiet and let Blondie win.

First of all, if the sign said “No COLOREDS”, the bar may get into shit loads of trouble. Why? Because racial discrimination is illegal.

Back in the late 80s, I witnessed this in Daytona. Before reaching the beach, the car containing me and two friends passed a biker bar. Posted on a door, a sign said “No Colors”. Seeing who was going into the bar (bikers), I knew who the establishment referred to. White dudes!

How did I know? In The Warriors, a 1979 movie, one street gang told another to take off their “colors”, meaning the vests sporting the gang’s slogan.

After over two decades of people complaining about the “No Colors” sign, you would think folks have learned by now. After my conversation with Blondie, I guess not.